On Thursday, October 12, 2023, Honourable Freda Akosua Prempeh, Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, officially opened 38 of 129 ultra-modern restroom facilities spread among eight Assemblies in Greater Kumasi, in the Ashanti region.
The World Bank provided the funding, and the Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources’ served as the project’s implementation organization. The 38 cutting-edge facilities were constructed to benefit thirteen educational and medical institutions.
11-seater sanitation facility was constructed at the Ejisu Islamic Primay & JHS, 15-seater sanitation facility at Bonwire SHS, 15-seater sanitation facility at Ejisu Model School, and 11 seater sanitation facility for Fumesua M/A Primary and JHS.
Others included the 15-seater sanitation facility at Bantama Presby Cluster of Schools and the 5-seater facility at Kwaso Health Center. Bantama Presby Cluster of Schools KG had 5-seater, Nasariya Islamic School got 9-seater sanitation facility.
The rest are Asokore Mampong M/A JHS, ‘A’ and ‘B’ with 11-seater sanitation facility, Sepe Timpom KG Block benefited from 11-seater sanitation facility. Sanitary facility with 11 seats were constructed at Sepe Timpom School among others.
Since 2021, the project’s implementers have continued to work toward their goal of building 129 modern restrooms for approximately 90 chosen schools and healthcare facilities over eight assemblies, providing relief for about 200,000 students, teachers, patients, and other staff members of these facilities.
The Greater Accra Metropolitan Assembly (GAMA) project alone has provided close to 600 of these toilets between 2016 and 2023, and they are being used on a daily basis, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Honourable Freda Akosua Prempeh, who also serves as the Member of Parliament for Tano North Constituency revealed. However, she urged the beneficiaries to develop a culture of upkeep in order to increase the facilities’ lifespan.
The Minister also asked for help from everyone to ensure that the restrooms are kept in good condition. “Offering such lovely facilities as we have here is one thing; maintaining them so that they last the full intended time is quite another” the minister emphasized. She claimed that despite the government and its partners having previously provided adequate restrooms at numerous schools throughout the nation, these facilities are now abandoned, forcing students to relieve themselves in the woods and other unusual locations.
She said that if the toilets break down due to a lackluster maintenance culture, Ghana runs the risk of losing out on all the other GKMA project components, which include the installation of 30,000 household toilets, the extension of piped water supply to 5,000 households, the renovation and expansion of the Asafo Sewerage System to connect more homes, and the development of the capacity of institutions in charge of sanitation and water supply.The Ghanaian government is pleased with the financial and technical assistance provided by the World Bank, according to the Minister for Water and Sanitation.
She continued by saying that representatives of the World Bank were present to speak with the Ministry and provide it with additional and better technical suggestions in order to assure the project’s success. At the end of 2024, when the project is anticipated to be completed, “it is our belief that as a government, we will all play our part to ensure that the statement will be clear enough that the government will not seat to make a justification for more support to scale up the project to other parts of the region and to other regions.”
In a brief speech, Mrs. Anna Cestari, the World Bank’s Practice Manager for water in West and Central Africa, stated that the bank is committed to helping the Ghanaian government advance and meet the Sustainable Development Goals, which include the provision of portable drinking water, the eradication of open deficiency, and the maintenance of a clean environment.
Mr. Anful Kingsley speaking on behalf of the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, thanked the World Bank for all of the support provided through the initiative. He urged Ghanaians to support the project as a result.
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